In the Dark of the Night
by Starr
Summary: Luke has a nightmare/vision after ANH
1. Default Chapter

In the Dark of the Night

Starr

Set between ANH and ESB. This thing will eventually have a sequel, but there's no way it'll be here before May.

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Dreams to dream in the dark of the night…I can see so far in my dreams. I'll follow my dreams until they come true.

An American Tail: Fievel Goes West

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The hallway in front of me is shadowed in gloom and I know with a dreadful certainty that **_he_** is in there waiting for me, hiding like a rat. And doesn't it make sense, when a rat is hiding, to wait for him to come to me? Of course it does. Please, I don't want to go in there. Nothing good will come of it.

Then, I'm actually in the corridor. All is quiet, completely silent, and I think maybe, just maybe, I'm wrong and he's not here. Maybe this time I've escaped my fate, or at least put it off for a little longer. 

No such luck. He materializes from the darkness like a phantasm, bearing down on me, lightsaber blazing. I bring mine up to clash against his, surprised as I always am at my reflexes, and we lock blades and circle, staring at each other. 

'Run!' my mind cries. 'You're fighting for nothing, and you know you can't win. Get out while you still can.' There's no escape, though. No matter where I look, the entrance I came in through is gone. 

He's attacking with a vengeance now, intent on disarming me; however, every thrust, every slash, I block with a desperate parry. I'm in over my head and I know it. I've abandoned all thoughts of actually defeating my foe. Now, my only goal is to escape with my life. 

A particularly vicious swipe hits my weapon hard enough to make the muscles in my arms give out. I manage to angle his lightsaber to the side, so it only burns my right arm, rather then severing it. Only. It hurts like hell, though, and I know that the arm is useless now. 'But I can't fight with just my left arm! I'm not strong enough.'

He disarms me easily then, sweeping my lightsaber out of my hand and backing me into the wall in one swift movement. I hold very still, hoping the saberpoint at my throat will kill me quickly. Hoping he won't speak.

But he does. "Impressive, young Skywalker. Most impressive. For someone without training, you are quite good."

I won't speak. I wish I could come up with some kind of scathing retort, the kind Han would use, but I know this is not the time or the place. Actually, I don't know what the time or the place is, but I know it's not the time or place for conversation.

"You have grown into quite a remarkable young man, although you are still a child. There is so much more for you to learn. You can be the most powerful man in the galaxy." He pauses, seeming to wait for a response that doesn't come. "Luke, you can destroy the Emperor. You could **be** Emperor. Join me and we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy." 

Mutely, I shake my head, pressing myself further into the wall.

"You've tasted that kind of power before, young one. Once you taste it, you cannot give it up. I am offering you the chance to obtain it all quickly and easily, rather than struggling to achieve your potential as Obi Wan and the Alliance would have you do."

His hand reaches out towards me and my eyes train on it hypnotically, watching as the black gauntlet moves towards my shoulder, past it, to the wall behind me. He leans in towards me, as if sharing a secret. "Obi Wan never told you what happened to your father, did he?"

I want to shout at that, to shout the truth and fight, but all I can do is nod. His very proximity is holding me still. 

"He didn't tell you everything, did he?"

That much is true. I shake my head and look up at him, eyes wide, terrified of what's coming. I force one word between my dry lips: "No." I'm not sure if it's an answer or a protest. I think it's both.

There is a pause, heavy with anticipation and fear and doubt, before he finally speaks. "I am your father, Luke."

"No!"

The wall behind me dissolves and I spin around it, running. He calls my name and chases after me. With his height, I know he'll catch me soon, even though I feel like I've never run so fast in my entire life. All too soon, I reach the end of a catwalk. In front of me is an endless drop. Behind me is him. Without a second thought, I jump.

I expect my life to flash before my eyes, a recap of my past, but instead, I see my future. Many futures, actually. In one, I hit bottom, killing me instantly. In another, Leia comes to my aid, but with a certain reluctance that surprises me. In another, I never stop, falling until I can't remember doing anything else. In the final one, he finds me and rescues me. I can't do anything but scream. 

With a horrible cry, Luke Skywalker flew into a sitting position, the dream that had been again tormenting him gone. He was shaking, his body covered in a damp sweat that left his sheets completely unusable. His nightmares had woken him before, always frightening him with their startling clarity, but he'd never woken up screaming before. Embarrassed, and still scared by how real the dream had felt this time, he rolled out of bed, praying he hadn't woken Wedge.

No such luck. The Corellian landed on the floor beside him, his eyes open wide and alert, his blaster drawn. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Luke said quickly. "Nothing." Hoping to change the subject, he gestured at Wedge's blaster and spoke with forced light tone. "You sleep with that thing?"

"Only when I'm rooming with you. Sharing quarters with the most wanted person in the galaxy is hazardous to my health."

"Not as hazardous as _being_ the most wanted person in the galaxy." 

"Right," Wedge said as he reached up to tuck his blaster back under his pillow. "So, you ok?"

"Yeah, sure," Luke replied nonchalantly, sitting back on his bunk, trying to find a spot that wasn't quite so cold.

"You wake up screaming a lot? Cause if you do, I'm rooming with Dev."

"No…no, this is the first time."

"And nothing's wrong," Wedge said, his voice clearly stating that he didn't believe it.

"Nothing." Luke looked away from Wedge's gaze. "Really!"

Wedge shrugged. "Fine. If you do it again, I'm telling sickbay."

"What?"

"Luke, a lot of pilots have nightmares. A lot of us can't sleep. And we tell medical and they give us sleeping pills, and we stop having dreams and the rebellion gets well-rested pilots. Everyone wins."

"I don't need drugs, Wedge," Luke said pointedly.

"Then get some sleep." The pilot softened a little at Luke's still shivering body. "Look, Luke, I don't mean to be harsh. Really, it's just…you're not safe if you're not as well rested as possible. I know we don't always adhere to it, but it's important that you sleep when you can. And if you can't sleep by yourself, you get help. It's not weak or anything. Half the squad takes them."

"Do you take them?"

"I used to."

Luke nodded. "I think…I think I just need to take a walk. Why don't you go back to bed."

"Think about what I said, Luke. And if you want to talk about it, wake me up."

"Sure." 

Luke wandered around the base for almost an hour. He didn't want to talk about it. And he didn't want to take drugs, no matter what Wedge said about sleeping. Something about the thought of relinquishing control of his body bothered him. He passed Leia's door a few times, but didn't stop. He couldn't tell her this. She wouldn't understand. If only his father was…no need to think about that. He didn't want to remember any of the dream. 

If Wedge knew how often this same dream was waking him up, he'd really have cause to be worried. The fact that he'd reacted so severely thinking that this was Luke's first waking nightmare scared Luke enough as it was. He eventually ended up in the hangar and stood for a few moments with his head leaning against the cool metal of his fighter. He was so tired. Sleep, though, seemed like something foreign to him, something terrifying. He looked over at the Falcon, sitting there with its ramp open. Whenever the ramp was down, Han or Chewie was awake. If he couldn't sleep, maybe one of them could keep him entertained, keep him from falling asleep inadvertently. 

"Hey," he called softly as he entered the ship. "Anyone awake in here?"

"Yeah, come on in, kid," he heard Han reply.

Luke found Han on the floor in the lounge, tinkering with a model skyhopper. "Playing with toys, Han?" he asked with a grin.

"Do your toys do this?" Han asked back, as he flipped some switches and sent the hopper flying around the lounge.

Luke whistled softly. "No, I don't think so. At least, the one I made on Tatooine never did."

"Neither did this, when I bought it. Anything to keep me busy, though." He turned as Luke sank down on the couch. "What are you doing up now anyway?"

"I might ask you the same thing," Luke countered.

"Hey, I'm not enlisted, remember? I make my own hours."

"Right," Luke said with a smile.

"You, on the other hand, you got…what, four hours until you're back on duty? I've never known you to be a night person, junior."

"Normally I'm not," Luke replied as he slid down on the couch to lie on his back. Sleep was slipping into the edges of his consciousness, tempting him with promises of rest, but he resisted. Sleep could only bring more fear and pain.

"Look at you," Han laughed. "You look like you're dying."

"I feel like it," Luke groaned.

"Wanna talk about it?" Han asked, sensing something more below Luke's easy-going façade.

Luke rolled onto his side. "I don't know. Do you ever have nightmares?"

"Sure."

"I don't normally. I remember a couple when I was a kid—bad ones, but only a few."

"What sort?"

"Can't remember. Stuff about…death, mostly. Destruction and evil. Stuff no kid should ever dream about. I just remember being scared."

"And that's keeping you up?"

Luke took a deep breath. He'd never actually thought about the dreams he was currently having. He'd put them out of his head and tried to go about his life. But…if he could figure things out by talking, maybe it would help. "I've started having them again."

"Of course you are, kid. You're risking your life for some hopeless cause and a colder than ice princess. It's enough to give me nightmares for you."

"Not about the war, Han. About…about my father."

"Your father?"

"Yeah. And Vader. I'm having bad dreams about Vader and my father," he finished in a rush, trusting Han to provide him with a witty comeback that would fix anything. The smuggler remained silent, however, prompting Luke to continue. "I first saw him on the Death Star when he…with Ben," Luke amended. "I didn't know it was him, though. I could have—I mean, I know he was far away and everything, but if I'd known it was him, I could have shot him then and been done with it."

"But you didn't."

"I didn't know. When I found out…I don't know. And now, these dreams. I feel…like a confrontation is inevitable."

"A confrontation with Vader?" 

"These dreams, Han! They're real." Luke tried to collect himself before he continued. "The first time, I saw him fighting my father. I saw him kill my father. And it…it was horrible, but it was a normal dream. I woke up scared and angry, but it was like watching a holovid. It was a dream. The next time, though…_I_ was fighting him. Vader. And…it was much realer. It was real. I was there. And when he won, I felt it. And it hurt. It _burned_, Han, and I was scared and I woke up in pain."

"Fighting Vader's serious business, kid. You're just overworked and overwhelmed." 

"That's what I told myself! And I kept having them and they were keeping me up, but I was able to get past the fear and pain because they were all the same. Tonight, though…he started talking to me, Han." Luke's voice broke off as his body reacted violently to the memories. His breathing quickened to an uncomfortable rate, as did his heart, and his stomach muscles spasmed. He couldn't find the words to describe his terror. Drawing his knees up to his chest, he continued in a low voice. "I could…_feel_ his voice. It was so deep, it made my bones rattle. It was…mentally oppressive and physically exhausting. Painful."

"You're under too much stress, kid."

"That's not all," Luke said quickly, before Han could continue. "He was telling me…all sorts of things, about power and the amount of power _I_ could have someday. Me. But…I rejected it. Him and his power and his offer."

"Offer?"

"He wanted me to join him and overthrow Palpatine. I said no, of course, because I hated him."

"Hated? As in past tense?"

"That's the thing," Luke whispered. "He told me…" He turned his face up to his friend. "It was just a dream, right? It wasn't real. It's not real."

"That's what I've been saying, but you seem to think otherwise."

"He told me he was my father." Luke said softly. 

Han was quiet for a moment, apparently shocked. "It was just a dream, Luke," he said gently. "You don't have to get yourself bent out of shape over it."

Luke sat up suddenly. "But how can I hate him if he's my father? I couldn't do it!"

"Luke, it was just a dream! He's not your father."

"But it was so real. I mean, the idea of it is ridiculous. The idea that Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader are the same person…it just doesn't make sense. But…still, I woke up terrified. Not of him, or of anything he could do to me, but of the truth."  
"But it's _not_ true."

"I know! But it felt true, you know?"

"Sure, kid," said Han in a way that implied that he didn't know. Luke sighed and stood up slowly. "Hey, I'm not through with you yet. Sit back down." Luke did so without protest. "Now, you want to know what I think?"

"Not really." He had when he'd come in, but now that it was all out in the open, he just wanted to go walk until he was too exhausted to dream.

"Too bad. It's my ship. You gotta listen. You've gotta face this, junior. You can't just wake up and lay there in the dark listening to yourself breath. It's not healthy. Talking about this is good. I wouldn't spread it around the base or anything, but I'd be open about it."

"But what do you think it means?"

"I don't know. Couple of things. You said that Vader was your father's friend before all hell apparently broke loose, but he obviously had to be close to your father at one point. He knew him, and I guess that intrigues you. I can see you wanting to talk to him. And maybe…I don't know. I guess it's the ultimate betrayal, really."

"What is?"

"Stealing someone's son." 

Luke nodded. "But it was just a dream. That's all."

"Whatever you say, kid. Feeling any better?"

"Yeah."

Han flicked a control with his finger and the hovering skyhopper flew low over the holoboard, then buzzed Luke's hair. The youth ducked out of the way and grinned. "You want to take a spin with it?" Han asked.

"No. I'm going to try and get some sleep. I've got…" he checked his chrono. "Almost four standard hours before I've got to be up."

"That's the best thing, kid. Remember, I'm always in here."

"Thanks, Han." He pulled his boots back on and left. 

Back in his room, Luke stared numbly at his bunk. Wedge's contented snores sparked a bit of envy in him. 'I never thought I'd be jealous of anyone's sleeping habits,' Luke thought with a wry grin. He'd had periods of insomnia that coincided with the few nightmares he'd actually had in his life, but normally he slept long and he slept hard. Normally. What he wouldn't give for normal right now. 

Life on a farm was exhausting enough, but it was easy to do the mind numbing chores with minimal sleep. Piloting, on the other hand… He put not only his life at risk, but the lives of everyone in the Alliance. He sighed. It was amazing what a consistent lack of sleep would do to one's principles on drug use. Luke checked his chrono. If he hurried, he could be back from sickbay and still manage to get three hours of sleep. 


	2. Chapter 2

Luke had felt déjà vu before, but never like this. The corridor beyond Cloud City's carbon freezing chamber stretched long and empty in front of him, and he knew with a dreadful certainty that he had entered a waking nightmare. Flashes of the dreams that had once troubled his sleep came back quickly then, memories of pain and fear and the horrible truth he had discovered the last time he'd had it.

He'd learned much since then, much about himself and much about the Force. And the Force now was telling him to leave this place, to return to his ship and follow Han and Leia away. But it was…confused, somehow, and was also telling him to follow Vader into the heart of Cloud City and make things turn out differently. To make the heritage that plagued his mind a lie. Readjusting his sweaty grip on his lightsaber, he stepped forward warily into the shadows.

The corridor was dimly lit and buzzing with the sound of quiet machinery. But underneath it, was there the rhythmic hiss of a respirator? He couldn't tell. Whatever he heard, it was in front of him, so he followed it.

His footsteps were unnaturally loud, louder than the machinery around him. The respirator…was it behind him now? He spun quickly, lightsaber up and ready. Nothing. But there was a large bay window where he'd been heading and it looked over the core of Cloud City. Vader couldn't be there. Luke must have passed him. _Start back and find him_, the Force seemed to say. _Get out while you can_, his mind screamed fearfully. Yoda had always told him to listen to the Force rather than to his own fears, but this seemed very wrong to him. The whole situation was wrong.

_You're not ready for this. You're not ready to die_…But Vader wouldn't let him die. The truth, Luke knew, would be more horrible than death. _Get out._

_I'm not a coward!_ Luke argued with himself. _And I don't have time for this indecision. What happens, happens_. He started back towards the corridor.

He'd gone barely two steps when Vader practically materialized out of the shadows in front of him, his scarlet lightsaber cutting down through the air towards Luke. With adrenaline coursing through his body, Luke barely blocked the blow and ducked around the Dark Lord to crouch behind him. He raised his weapon to cut the man down, when something seemed to stop his hand. _What if it's true? I can't kill my own father!_

Luke's split second of hesitation was enough for Vader to turn and defend himself against Luke's apparent attack. He batted Luke's saber away and it slipped out of the boy's suddenly indecisive fingers, clattering away into the shadows. Heart pounding with terror, the youth started to scramble away, but Vader smoothly caught Luke's legs with his foot and sent him crashing to the ground. In an instant, his saber was at Luke's throat.

Luke lay frozen on the ground, Vader's saber close enough to make the skin on his throat burn. His eyes darted back and forth, finally finding his own lightsaber in the shadows behind the Dark Lord. After a seemingly endless moment in which Luke thought each second was his last, Vader spoke.

"A valiant effort, young Skywalker, but the fight is mine." He paused, seeming to expect a response. Luke used the time to ease himself slowly back on his elbows, away from the glowing blade. If he could just get far enough away, he could get his weapon to him…"Join me, Luke, and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy."

The feeling that he had lived this all before came rushing back to the youth as he remembered Vader's words from his dream. _You can destroy the Emperor. You can __**be**__ Emperor._ Suddenly cold, he shook his head violently, unable to concentrate on his saber anymore.

"Luke, you do not yet realize your importance. You have the potential to be the most powerful man in the galaxy. I am offering you the chance to achieve this quickly, rather than struggling through your training as Obi Wan and the Alliance would have you do."

Oh stars, he knew where this was going. _Get up, Luke!_ He struggled to his feet, noticing with some surprise that Vader actually allowed it. Before he could continue and say what Luke was dreading, the boy reached out with the Force and called his weapon to his hand.

Sabers ignited, Luke and Vader began their battle anew. The Dark Lord had the upper hand, however, and took advantage of Luke's deep concentration. As the young Jedi neared the large window, Vader used the Force to rip a sheath of piping from the wall and sent it hurtling towards Luke's back. At the last moment, the young Jedi noticed the missile headed towards him and turned to deflect it. As he did, another piece of machinery came flying through the air. Soon, Luke was pelted from all sides, with too many to defend against, and one finally knocked him forward. As he fell, he reached out to catch himself on a console. With a flash of his lightsaber, Vader slashed down Luke's right arm, leaving a burn that rendered the arm temporarily useless. Luke cried out in spite of himself, dropping his weapon, and crouched back, not knowing whether he feared death or the truth more. Once again, Vader's saber was at his throat.

"You are beaten, Skywalker. It is useless to resist. Come with me."

Mutely, not trusting his voice to sound strong enough, Luke shook his head. _Please, just stop there. Don't say anything else._ But as he looked up at Vader towering over him, all Luke could think of was the way his dream had ended. And it had been a dream. It had to have been. Force visions couldn't be stopped by taking sleeping pills. Could they?

"Obi Wan never told you what happened to your father, did he?"

"No," Luke found himself saying in reply. "He never did." _That's a lie! He told me you killed him! But…that was a lie too, wasn't it? Please, tell me you killed him. Let me hate you again._

There was a pause, heavy with doubt and anticipation and fear, before he finally spoke again. "I am your father, Luke."

His dream had been filled with anger and denial. His reality was merely filled with resignation. His back pressed to the wall, Luke drew his knees up to his chest in shock. "I know," he whispered. "I've known for a long time."

"Then join me," Vader implored. "I am your father. You cannot fight me."

Luke shook his head. He still didn't understand. "Why did he do this?"

"Who?"

"Ben. Why didn't he tell me?"

"He wanted you to kill me. He knew you couldn't kill your own father, so he lied to achieve his own goals. He has been planning this since he first hid you from me."

Luke nodded, thinking back to his late night conversation with Han. "It's the ultimate betrayal, you know," he said softly.

"What is?"

"Stealing someone's son." He thought of the futures he had seen in his last dream, of Leia's pained distance, of death, of a life belonging nowhere. He couldn't return to the Alliance knowing he could no longer be their hero Jedi. He had nowhere else to go. Being careful not to disturb his burned arm, Luke reached up to take his father's hand.


End file.
